SarahChamberlain

DigestiveSystemsLabReport

Mouthstructures

This lab will address all of the major components of the digestive system. The report is
broken up into three different portions: mouth structures, stomach and esophagus structures,
and the structures of the intestines. The first portion of the lab report will be discussing the
functions of the salivary glands and saliva, how taste can be affected by sight and smell, and
the structures of the teeth. There are three different types of salivary glands: Parotid Glands,
which produces a serous, watery secretion, Submaxillary (Mandibular) Glands,whichproduces
a mixed serous, and mucous secretion, and Sublingual Glands, which produces a
predominantly mucous secretion. Saliva hasseveralveryimportantfunctions.Salivabindsallof
the chewed food together into a slippery bolbus, making it easier for food to travel down the
esophagus. Saliva is constantly being producedandfloodingthemouthinordertopreventfood
from directlytouchingthe epithelialcellsanditcleansoutparticlesoffood leftoverinthemouth.
It also initiates starch digestion, which turns starch into maltose with the help ofalphaamylase
cells. Saliva also solubilizes the molecules in cells to allow asting. But saliva breaking down
food alone doesnt allow tasting, tasting also requires the aid of sight, smell, and temperature.
The tongue, which is covered in taste buds, also plays a key role in the tasting process.There
are five main basic tastes: sweet, sour, salty, bitter and umami. Each taste bud has their own
preference of taste. Some taste buds like sweet, and some like sour. Taste buds are located
everywhere on the surface of the tongue. Each taste bud is made up of anywhere between 10
to 50 sensory cells. These cells form a capsule, and at the top of the capsule is a fluidfilled
tunnel with taste hairs, which are fingershaped extensions. Taste buds use proteins to bind
chemicals to the food and release its flavor. Mostbudsarelocatedonthetongue,butthereare
also cells in the back of the throat, the epiglottis, the nasal cavity, and on the upper partofthe
esophagus. The teeth also helpwithbreaking downfood.Theybreakdownfoodbygrindingthe
food pieces into smaller particles. Different teeth have different functions. There are five
different types of teeth: third molars, molars,premolars,canine,andincisors.Incisorsaremade
for biting off food, canines aremadeforpuncturingfood, andallthreetypesofmolarsaremade
forgrindingthefooddown.

Food:

Ontongue

Chew

Unplugged+
Chew

DoesntI.D.

Apple

Carrot

Cheese

Banana

Potato

Table 1:Thepurposeofthislabwastoseewhetheritnottasteis80%smell.Inthisexperiment,
classmates were told to plug their noses with cotton balls and close their eyes. Their partners
placed random food items on their tongues. They had toholditontheirtonguefor fiveseconds
and see if they could identify the food. If they couldnt they were allowed to chew for five
seconds, then unplug their nose. 60% of the food required smell before they were identified,
helpprovingtothetheorythatsmellissomewhatrequiredfortastingfoods.

Figure 2: The purpose of this lab was what the effect of amylase is on starch. Two test tubes
were set up, both had crackers and one dropof iodine,onetubehad30dropsofsalivaandthe
other had 30 drops of water. The test tube with the saliva broke down the cracker within afew
days while the test tube with the water merely made the cracker soggy. This shows that
alphaamylase,achemicalfoundinsaliva,isnecessarytobreakdownstarch.

Figure1:Imagesofanimalskullswithteethlabels.

The second portion of thelabreportwillbefocusingontheesophagusandthestomach.

The functions of the esophagus is merely to transport the bolus, a mass of food, from the oral
cavity to the stomach. Thestomach,howeverplaysamuchgreaterroleinthe digestivesystem.
The stomach mixes the bolus and starts to liquify it, turning it into chyme. The rugae of the
stomach, or the folds in the lining of the stomach, help to mix the bolus.Thestomachsecretes
gastric juices, such as mucus, Hydrochloric Acid (HCL), pepsinogen and gastrin, to digest and
break down the food further into chyme. The stomach also absorbs some of the nutrients from
foodintoitsmuscletodistributeit.

Time

Control:Egg
white

Control:Liquid

Experiment:Egg Experiment:
White
Liquid

Day1

Eggwhiteis
fullypresent

Liquidisclear
andslightly
yellowfrom
pepsin

Eggwhiteis
fullypresent

Day2

Eggwhiteisfull
present

Liquidisclear
andslightly
yellowfrom
pepsin

Eggwhiteis
Liquidisslightly
gonecompletely cloudy

Liquidisclear
andslightly
yellowfrom
pepsin

Table 2: The purpose of this lab was to see if protein digestion could still occur withoutHCL.It
was predicted that if HCL was removed from the process of protein digestion, than protein
digestion is not possible because the HCL acid is required to completely digest protein. The
data table above shows two different test tubes that were set up. Both test tubeshad20 drops
of water, 20 drops of pepsin and a pieceofeggwhite.Onetesttube(experiment)had10drops
of HCL and the other (control) did not. The experiment egg white was completely dissolved by
the second day, while the control test tube stillhadits eggwhite.Therefore,HCLisrequiredfor
proteintobecompletelydigesteddown.

Figure2:ControlTubeDay1

Figure4:ControlTubeDay2

Figure3:ExperimentTubeDay1

Figure5:ExperimentTubeDay2

Figure6:Alabeledstomachandesophagusfromacat.

Thelastpartofthislabwillbefocusingonthesmallandlargeintestines.Thepurposeof
thesmallandlargeintestinesistotransportfoodfromthestomachtotherectum,absorb
nutrientsfromthechyme,andturnittostool.Thesmallintestineshasthreedifferentparts:the
duodenum,thejejunum,andtheileum.Theileumleadsthesmallintestineintothelarge

intestine,whichismadeupoftheappendix,thececum,theascendingcolon,thetransverse
colon,thedescendingcolon,thesigmoidcolon,andtherectum.

Figure7:Labeledcatintestines.


Tables3&4:Thepurposeofthislabwastotestdifferenthormonesonthedigestivesystem.In
thislab,sixmalelaboratoryratswereputonanovernightfast.Theratsthenhadcathetersinto
theirsalivaryduct,stomach,mainpancreaticduct,andcommonbileduct.Thevolumesofthe
fluidsandpHwasmeasuredandrecordedintothefirsttableabove.Balloonswereplacedinthe
stomachandsmallintestinestorecordcontractions.Thecontrolratwasinjectedwith1mLof
saline.Thefirstratwasinjectedwith1mLofcholecystokinin(CCK),whichcausesthe
gallbladdertocontractandreleasebile,anditcausespancreaticdigestiveenzymestobe
releasedfromthepancreas.Thesecondratwasinjectedwith1mLofsecretin,whichlowers
thepHofgastricjuicesandchymethatentertheduodenumofthesmallintestine,hencethe
nicknameofnaturesantacid.Thethirdratwasinjectedwith1mLofacetylcholine(ACh),
whichmimicstheactionoftheparasympatheticnervoussystem.Thefourthratwasinjected
with1mLofgastrin.Thefifthratwasinjectedwithgastricinhibitorypolypeptide(GIP),which
decreasesmotoractivityofthestomachandreleasesinsulinintothebloodstream.